Development and evaluation of sorghum-based spirits with potential for whisky production

Yailén García-Mirabal; Oscar Ros; Mario A. García

doi:10.5281/zenodo.14602136

Authors

Yailén García-Mirabal Instituto de Farmacia y Alimentos, Universidad de La Habana, La Habana, Cuba Author https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6169-8269
Oscar Ros Instituto de Farmacia y Alimentos, Universidad de La Habana, La Habana, Cuba Author https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3874-3689
Mario A. García Facultad de Ciencias Matemáticas, Físicas y Químicas, Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Portoviejo, Ecuador Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0304-9665

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14602136

Keywords:

spirits, sorghum, corn, sensory evaluation, whisky

Abstract

A spirit was developed from sorghum to evaluate its potential application in whisky production. An acid hydrolysis process was employed at a pressure of 1.3 atm for four hours at 124 °C to extract nutrients from the grain. The resulting culture medium, maintained at 30 °C, was filtered and neutralized before adding Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast for alcoholic fermentation. The spirit was obtained by distilling the fermented medium. The alcohol content, acidity, and pH of the sorghum spirits and the sorghum and corn mixtures were determined. The results showed that the sorghum flour's particle size significantly influenced alcohol yield, with the lowest yield associated with larger particle sizes (1000-2000 µm). The alcohol yield of the spirits obtained from flour mixtures showed no significant differences. However, the 50% sorghum and corn flour mixture tended to increase this parameter compared to the other spirits. Sensory evaluators rated the spirits made with a 1:1 mixture of sorghum and corn flour as "Acceptable", suggesting its potential as a raw material for whisky production.

Downloads

References

Ablin, A. (2012). El mercado del whisky. Alimentos argentinos MinAgri, 1-21. https://alimentosargentinos.magyp.gob.ar/HomeAlimentos/AyB/bebidas/productos/Whisky_2012_11Nov.pdf

Barnes, Q., Vial, J., Thiébaut, D., De Saint, C., Steyer, D., Contamin, M.A., Papaiconomou, N., & Fernandez, X. (2022). Characterization of Flavor Compounds in Distilled Spirits: Developing a Versatile Analytical Method Suitable for Micro-Distilleries. Foods, 11(21), 3358. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11213358

Feyera, M. (2021). Overview of Malting and Fermentation Role in Sorghum Flour, Primarily for Antinutrient Reduction. Journal of Human Nutrition and Food Science, 9(1), 1138. https://www.jscimedcentral.com/jounal-article-pdfd/Journal-of-Human-Nutrition-and-Food-Science/nutrition-9-1138.pdf

Kang, X., Zhu, W., Xu, T., Sui, J., Gao, W., Liu, Z., Jing, H., Cui, B., Qiao, X., & Abd El-Aty, A.M. (2022). Characterization of starch structures isolated from the grains of waxy, sweet, and hybrid sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench). Frontiers in Nutrition, 9, 1052285. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.1052285

Kelly, T.J., O’Connor, C., & Kilcawley, K.N. (2023). Sources of Volatile Aromatic Congeners in Whiskey. Beverages, 9(3), 64. https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages9030064

Krüger, R.T., Alberti, A., & Nogueira, A. (2022). Current Technologies to Accelerate the Aging Process of Alcoholic Beverages: A Review. Beverages, 8(4), 65. https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages8040065

Lukinac, J., & Jukić, M. (2022). Barley in the Production of Cereal-Based Products. Plants (Basel), 11(24), 3519. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11243519

NC 623 (2008). Determinación de alcohol por picnometría. Cuba.

NC-ISO 4121 (2005). Análisis sensorial. Directrices para la utilización de escalas de respuestas cuantitativas. Cuba.

Paoletti, A., Fakiha, A., Tul-Noor, Z., Pencharz, P.B., Levesque, C.L., Ball, R.O., Kong, D., Elango, R., & Courtney-Martin, G. (2022). Bioavailable Lysine Assessed Using the Indicator Amino Acid Oxidation Method in Healthy Young Males is High when Sorghum is Cooked by a Moist Cooking Method. Journal of Nutrition, 152(3), 770-778. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxab410.

Prasad, S., & Ingle, A.P. (2019). Impacts of sustainable biofuels production from biomass. Eds. Mahendra Rai, Avinash P. Ingle, Sustainable Bioenergy, Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-817654-2.00012-5.

Tapia, A. (2008). Whisky. El agua de la vida. www.shannonsleon.com/archivos/Whisky_ El_agua_de_la_vida.pdf.

Walsh, C. (2007). Consumer responses to low-salt food products. Eds. David Kilcast, Fiona Angus, In Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition, Reducing Salt in Foods, Woodhead Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1533/9781845693046.1.124